


Within the Nexus

by Cedechan



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Action, Angst, Friendship, Justice, Murder
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-11-21 18:18:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11362980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cedechan/pseuds/Cedechan
Summary: By the end of AC 197, Zechs has returned from Mars broken and alone. His world as he knew it has been destroyed and in his attempt to move on, he dives back into the world from which he though he'd escaped.Unexpectedly, he finds himself partnered with Wufei Chang and one of Doctor J's former wards and life starts to become normal again, despite the battle with his inner demons. But when tragedy strikes again, he must rely on their help to find the assassin, because he can't do it on his own.





	Within the Nexus

**Within the Nexus**

**November 7, AC 197**

 

     “Sir,” The voice of the young co-pilot crackled over the intercom, “We’ll be in Earth’s orbit in a few hours.” 

Zechs looked up from the screen of his laptop, towards the round shuttle window of his room. He saw nothing but the black vastness of space, sprinkled with the thousands of stars, light years away. Their current trajectory was at the perfect angle to cast the red dot of his former home, Mars, within his line of sight. Getting up from the built-in desk, he walked over and hit the button on the intercom on the wall next to the door of his quarters. 

     “Thank you,” he replied, and slipped his thumb off of the button. He turned back to the desk and stretched, raising his arms up over his head and arching his back.  His hands touched the ceiling of his small room and he let out a large yawn. 

A once ten-week journey from Mars was now only two, but it was still too much time to be alone with his thoughts. Piloting the craft in which he now travelled, did prove to be a good distraction, however it wasn’t enough so when he wasn’t piloting, he was hunched over his computer. 

He looked into the small mirror that was mounted on the wall, stared into his tired ice blue eyes and raked his hand through his long blond hair. He worked a small knot loose with his fingers, sighed and turned to his bed. 

Rolling his shoulders, he grabbed his discarded white T-shirt from his thin bunk and draped it over his long, lanky torso. Although it was mandated that all crew members do a series of workouts in the morning, Zechs had never bothered. He slept in most days and had no appetite, so he’d lost a fair amount of weight in the last three weeks. His pants were loose and his shirts hung on him. 

There were 10 crew members on the shuttle to Earth. He and the co-pilot, three engineers, two scientists, two regular passengers, and their medic, Myrna. During the two week trip, Myrna had constantly harassed him to eat more, but he just wasn't hungry. She’d grab his face, turn it left and right, then comment on how she could tell that he’d lost more weight. He’d just brush her off and lie that he’d make sure to eat something at the next meal. 

He hit the button next to the door and it slid open with quiet hiss. The shuttle was only 100 feet long, so he walked down the central hallway and was in the cockpit a minute later. 

The dark haired pilot looked up when he entered and saluted him from his seat. 

     “I’ve told you not to do that, Arlo.” Zechs mumbled and the young man lowered his hand with an unperturbed smile and turned back towards the navigation controls. He was actually only a year and a half younger than Zechs, but Zechs felt much older than his 21 years. He slumped down into the second pilot’s seat and stared over the navigation panel, out the window to the little blue planet where he had grown up. 

He couldn’t believe that he was actually returning. 

Suddenly like a wave, he felt a weight land on his shoulders and the depression he’d been battling the last three weeks descended on him like a thick fog. His mind wandered to the precious cargo they had in the lower bay he felt as if an invisible hand thrust into his chest and squeezed his heart. 

He deflated in the seat and raised a hand to cover his eyes. Arlo looked over at him concerned. 

     “Sir?”

     “I’m fine.” he said, looking away and abruptly getting up. “Are you alright to keep going?” he asked and Arlo nodded. 

     “Yes’sir. Maybe you should go see Myrna? You’re awful pale.” Arlo observed, but Zechs shook his head lightly and left. He turned and left the cockpit and decided to down to the cargo bay. Carefully avoiding the shuttle’s clinic, he made his way to the door that lead down to the cargo bay, and looked behind him quickly before opening it and slipping inside. 

A motion detector turned the lights on as he entered, and a soft white light illuminated the small bay as he came down the ramp. He walked across the room, passed the blocks of supplies and stopped at the single cryogenic sleeping pod, where Lucrezia’s beautiful face shown through the small window. 

The pod was the closest thing that they had to a coffin on Station NW2, where he and Lucrezia had lived together. 

     “Hi sweetheart,” he whispered. 

Putting a shaky hand on the window, he lowered his face as tears swelled in his eyes. He and Lucrezia had moved to Mars soon after the Mariemaia incident, hoping to make a new lives for themselves. Soon after the end of the war, they had been contacted by one of the heads of the Terraforming Project, Kalkin Muzall, wondering if they would be interested in the project. They had accepted right away and took the first shuttle that headed out to Mars. 

He would never forget the beaming smile that Lucrezia had on her face when they first set foot on the Martian planet. The sun highlighted the deep violet of her hair, bringing out a deeper array of colors and her eyes twinkled like amethysts… God, she was so radiant. She grabbed his hand and laughed giddily, a sound he had never heard from her before.

_       “Oh Zechs.” she murmured looking through the glass of her helmet at him. “I’m so happy.” she smiled at him and he smiled back. _

_      “I am too…” he paused for a moment as he stared down at her, “ I love you.” he blurted suddenly and she blinked in surprise, it was the first time he had said those words to her. Lucrezia’s smile faltered a moment then returned bigger than before and her eyes glistened. Suddenly she jumped on him, catching him off guard and he lost his balance as she wrapping her arms around his neck. They fell together, laughing as their helmets clunked together and they landed in a cloud of red dust.  _

_      “I love you too…” she whispered when the laughter subsided. “I’ve always loved you.” _

They had both been assigned as Captains for half of the Northwest sphere, in charge of overseeing the construction of the 30 factories that would be releasing the green house gasses needed to create ozone on the red planet. It was 20 year plan: 5 years to complete construction and 15 years for the factories to emit enough greenhouses gasses before the surface could be even remotely survivable. They were excited for their new life and had planned to be there for the long haul. 

Mars had been mapped out simply: north sphere, northwest sphere, northeast sphere, west sphere, east sphere, southeast sphere, southwest sphere, and south sphere. Each sphere had two identical anchored habitats and each housing 90 people. They lived in Station NW2.

Their accommodations had been a cozy 200 square feet that included a small kitchenette, bathroom and narrow closet, and they loved every square inch of their tiny quarters. They were use to small spaces after their time at the academy, so they didn’t care how much room they had, as long as they were together. Although he had a position of power, Zechs felt completely uninhibited and free for the first time in his life. No battles to fight, no wars to prepare for...just his work and being with the love of his life. 

After a long day of construction, many of the Station’s crew members would go to it’s only drinkery to relax. Sometimes Lucrezia and Zechs had joined them, but most of the time they would retreat to their room and just enjoy each other’s company. 

It had been three weeks since the accident, but her death still felt fresh. 

They had been together at Site 4, which was almost complete and they were going over the final phases of the build. A call came over their coms saying that there had been an incident at Site 7, roughly 5 miles away, and Lucrezia had offered to take the Runner and go check it out. They knew that there was a storm warning for the the night, but it was only a 30 minute drive and there was plenty of time before sundown. She was going to check-in when she got there to report what the damage was at Site 7, then she’d be right back. Zechs was eager to put the final touches on Site 4, so he gave her a kiss and let her go. 

The storm hit early. Zechs hadn’t even heard the rushing wind while he talked with the electrician to make sure that the water recycling system was running properly. It wasn’t until there was a loud ‘thunk!’ and the sound of splintering glass that he looked up. Someone called him over to one of the few windows that the factory had and that was when he saw the large starburst crack that decorated it. The rock that had flown into it had been large. 

The workers were already putting tape across the window then putting a plastic covering over it, in case it did decide to give. Luckily they glass was a thick, very strong glass that wouldn’t break easily, otherwise they would all have been dead already. 

Zechs’ thoughts strayed from the window quickly, however, when he saw the powerful red storm beyond the glass. It had come hours earlier than expected. He hadn’t even realized that he had pulled his radio off of his belt and was screaming “Luci?! Luci!!” into it, until the loud screech and and white noise started to blare from it. 

     “I have to go find her!” he yelled at the workers and ran down to the Runner hangar before anyone could respond. Red lights were flashing and an alarm was sounding when he burst into the hanger. Ignoring them all, he hastily climbed into one of the large vehicles, climbing over the large all-terrain wheels and ducking under the silver roll cage, and carefully sealed the door. The electric Runner hummed happily when he hit ignition, but the hanger door wouldn’t respond when he put in the command. 

A red warning appeared on the screen. 

*****Warning*****

**Hangar doors on lockdown until Category 8 storm passes.**

     “NO!” he bellowed, slamming his fist on the display. He tried the door again and the warning continued to flash. “Goddammit!” He dialed Kalkin’s number. The stout man’s face appeared a moment later on the screen, he looked just as harried as Zechs felt. The picture rough and fuzzy from the bad signal and the image wavered. 

     “Kalkin! I need you to override the doors!” Zechs yelled, “I need to get out there! Luci is out there!”

     “What the fuck is she doing out there?!” Kalkin yelled back at him. It seemed that the storm was raging on his side of the sphere too and it was hard to hear over the howling wind. 

     “She was heading to site 7! Let me out! I need to find her!” His voice cracked with urgency. 

     “I can’t Zechs! The lockdown is automatic when a storm is over category 5. I can’t override it!”

     “You have to! There has to be a way!” His deep voice begged. 

     “I can’t!” Kalkin said with a shake of his head and at that moment the screen blinked and Kalkin’s face disappeared. 

     “No!” He said to himself, staring at the screen as his heart sunk.

He hadn’t been able to get out. 

Zechs tried finding the control box so that he could force the doors to open, to no avail. Then he headed to the airlock, dressed in a surface suit, prepared to walk into the billowing red storm to find her, but the doors wouldn’t open either. Some of the other workers tried to help him, they were worried about Lucrezia too, but no one could find a way out, they were locked in.

It was 12 hours before the storm cleared up.

The red sand had built up around the factory and when they finally opened the hangar door, it came spilling inside. Already dressed in a surface suit,  Zechs started to climb the tall dune of red sand before the crew could clear it. When he got to the top he could see a Runner coming towards them in the distance and his heart leapt. 

     “Lucrezia!” He called out at the top of his lungs, stumbling over and down the dune, then ran towards the oncoming Runner. He couldn’t see who the driver was due to the reflective windshield, but a part of him believed it could have been her. He wanted so badly for it to be her. The Runner stopped when it was 50 yards from Zechs and the door creaked opened, releasing a shower of red dust. 

Breathless, Zechs fell to his knees when the person who stepped out of it wasn’t her. 

Kalkin walked over to Zechs slowly, and the expression on his face through the glass of his helmet stopped Zechs’ heart. 

     “No….no!” he cried out, grasping at his helmet.

     “Zechs…”

They had found her already, down at the bottom of a deep ravine, the Runner crinkled like an aluminum can. From what they could surmise, the storm had thrown her off course and somehow she slipped into the ravine. The Runner flipped and rolled, puncturing the armour on the sharp Martian rock.  It was common practice to remove their helmets inside the Runner because of the low ceilings, and that was exactly what she had done. She suffocated when all the air was sucked out of the cabin. 

He spent the next few days numb and in shock, not getting up to eat and unable to sleep. He felt  broken, like someone had taken the best part of him and destroyed it. On the fifth day, Kalkin came into his cabin and sat next to him on the bed. 

     “I’ve spoken to your sister,” Kalkin said, looking sadly at Zechs “and we have a shuttle ready to take you and Lucrezia back to Earth.”

And now, he stared into her peaceful face through the thick glass of the cryo-pod, willing her eyes to open, until his vision obscured with tears again. 

His breath suddenly hitched as he bit into his quivering lip, wiping away the tears in his eyes with the back of his hand, then slammed his fist angrily against the pod.  ‘ _ It should have been me,’ _ he told himself for the thousandth time, ‘ _ I should have gone instead. Why did I let her go?! Why?! Why was I so stupid??’ _

He cried for Lucrezia...mourning for the life that they had together, for her beautiful eyes that he’d never see again, for her soft lips that he’d never kiss again, and for the children that they talked about, who would never be. 

10 months. He only got have 10 months with her. How was that fair?!

~*~

Once they landed on Earth, the next few days raced by for Zechs, like images in a tornado. Landing back on Earth, seeing Relena there on the tarmac with her silly pink limousine, the traditional funeral in the Sanq kingdom at his family plot, seeing a lot of old companions who came to pay their condolences, flowers, suits, more limos, green lawns, and a lot of bad food. When everything finally slowed down, Zechs found himself sitting alone on a bed in his sister’s guest room and utterly exhausted. 

_ ‘Now what?’ _ he asked himself, as his eyes scanned the elaborately decorated room. There was the tray with his untouched dinner, his sad little duffle bag, the suit from the funeral that was carelessly discarded on the floor and then finally he looked at himself in the large gold adorned mirror that backed the oak dresser. He had deep shadows under his eyes and his skin was pale. 

He felt so lost. Where would he go? What would he do?  _ Who _ would he be? Who was he without Lucrezia Noin? 

Her voice floated to him just then...

_ They sat in the mess hall eating breakfast. They were both wearing gray jumpsuits, the standard uniforms for NW2, and he was contemplating another name change to distance himself from the Lightning Count. Lucrezia gave him a stern, but mocking frown as she stabbed a chunk of powdered egg with her fork.  _

_      “I will not let you change your name again,” she said, pointing her fork at him. “I happen to like the name Zechs Merquise, and I’m very fond of the man who is attached to it.” She said smiling and popped the yellow egg substitute into her mouth.  _

_ He smiled, reached out, and swept up her right hand. _

_      “Well, when you put it that way,” He lightly kissed her knuckles, “Mr. Zechs Merquise at your service, mademoiselle,” _

 

Blinking, he refocused on his image in the mirror. ‘ _ Okay, no name change.’  _  he thought, but he had to  **do** something, he felt like he was suffocating. He pushed his long blond hair out of his face for the hundredth time that morning and on an impulse, Zechs stood up, walked over to the dinner tray and grabbed the serrated steak knife. Walking back to the mirror, he didn’t stop to think as he gathered his hair into a ponytail and began to saw through it. 

A shower of long blond locks fell at his feet, and his hair fell in jagged layers around his face. Immediately, Zechs could feel the shroud slip off and he could breath easier as he lowered his head and closed his eyes.  After a moment, he lifted his head and  tilted it  from side to side, looking at his handy work. He hadn’t had short hair since he was a boy and it was strange seeing his ears and neck so exposed. It wasn’t pretty, but he didn’t care. He already felt marginally better.

     “Zechs are you- Oh my god! Who are you?!” came a surprised exclamation from behind him. He spun around to see the startled face of his sister. She wore her long, light brown hair down and her nile blue eyes were wide. He hadn’t even heard the door open. 

     “It’s just me.” he responded, and she goggled at him momentarily, having quickly recovered from her surprise. A small smile began to tug at Relena’s lips. 

     “What did you do?” She asked, walking into the room and taking in the pool of yellow hair on the floor. 

     “I needed a change.” He said simply as she walked up beside him. The siblings looked at each other through the mirror and Relena reached up and swept a stray lock from his shirt.

     “It looks terrible,” she said with fake seriousness, and she watched as his hand went up self-consciously to his ragged locks. 

     “You don’t like it?” he asked, realizing he sounded childish only after the words has escaped his lips. Relena smiled, amused.

     “No, I do like it short, it’s just...messy.”

     “Well I’m not a barber,” Zechs commented, holding up the steak knife. Seeing it, Relena burst into laughter and he smiled a little to himself too. 

Wiping a tear from her eye, Relena looped her arm through Zechs’ and began to lead him out the room. 

     “Okay big brother, let’s get your hair fixed up and then talk about what’s next for you.” She said as they walked down the hallway. 

     “What’s next for me?” he asked curiously as he peered down at her smiling face. 

     “Yes. The best way to heal is to stay busy and Lucrezia wouldn’t want you to stay in mourning forever.” she said, giving his arm a squeeze. “You know I’m right.” she added when he looked doubtful. 

     “Maybe… but I don’t know that I’m ready.”

     “You are.”

     “How do you know?”

     “I just know.” she said confidently as they turned down a hallway and headed to the dining area. “And I’ve already set up an interview for you.” Zechs stopped and stared down at her again surprised and smiled at the assured look on her face. 

     “When did you get so commanding?” he asked, and she grinned. 

     “About the time I started following in our father’s footsteps, I suppose.”

He could hardly find a reason to argue with her and sighed. 

     “Alright, tell me about the interview.”

~*~

As it turned out, Relena had a very interesting job opportunity for Zechs and he accepted the interview with only a little skepticism. She told him almost nothing, wanting it to be a surprise, but she assured him that it was right up his alley. 

Six days later, he and Relena were finishing up breakfast when the doorbell rang. Relena’s loyal butler, Pagan, came into the dining room, waited for Relena to finish her sentence to Zechs, then murmured, 

     “It’s here, ma’am,” through his thick, white mustache. Subconsciously, Zechs reached up, rubbed a knuckle under his own, naked nose and wondered how the elderly butler could maintain the bushy push broom on his upper lip. 

He set down his fork, placed the napkin on the table and took a final sip of coffee, before getting up and following Relena and Pagan out the front door. 

There was a black town car idling in the long, circular drive and Zechs looked over at Relena and raised an eyebrow. 

     “Just go,” she said with a smile, “And remember, Zechs, you don’t have to say yes.” she reminded him for the third time that morning and he nodded. 

     “Okay, I’ll see you later.” he conceded, and walked to the car. The driver met him and opened the door for him. He ducked inside the car, grabbed the door’s handle and pulled it shut, ignoring the grunt of surprise from the driver. He hated being waited on. 

They drove thirty minutes, and Zechs was surprised when they arrived at the private entrance of the Sanq Airport. He pulled out his com and typed a message to his sister. 

**‘They are taking me to the airport. Where is this interview??’**

**‘Wait and see ;)’**  came her reply message and he rolled his eyes. Although he and Relena had only been reunited for two years, sometimes it felt as if they had never lost that time. Even while he was on Mars, they messaged one another often, and she had been his crutch when Lucrezia died. 

He was escorted to a waiting, unmarked private jet on the runway and he was the only passenger. The kind stewardess offered him a drink as he buckled his seatbelt and had it to him once they were in the air. 

One short hour later, he disembarked the jet and climbed into the next waiting town car. 

Zechs knew immediately what country they had landed in, so he was not at all surprised when the car stopped in front of the Preventers Headquarters in Brussels. He sighed to himself.  _ ‘Why would Relena get me an interview here?’ _ he thought with a cringe. He had already worked for them, and he hadn’t particularly enjoyed his time under the manic “Director” Lady Une. 

As he walked up to the tall, monolith of concrete and glass, mentally preparing himself to tell Une, ‘No’. 

Zechs only had a moment to notice that a shadow appeared on the other side of the glass door before opened it up for him. He stopped in his tracks, momentarily taken aback. 

She hadn’t changed at all since the last time he saw her on board the Libra. She was wearing a crisp white suit with a cornflower blue scarf wrapped around her delicate neck; her long pale blonde hair sweeping to-and fro as she walked. Her lavender eyes smiled at him as he approached.

     “Dorothy, I wasn’t expecting to see you,” 

     “Welcome,” she said with a shy smile. She ignored his puzzled look as she held the door for him to walk through, and hestiantly he walked through into the large lobby. He waited as the door closed and she caught up with him. “Please follow me, Mr. Merquise.” she said formally, and led his down the hallway.

     “What are you doing here?” he asked, “I thought you were working with the ESUN,”

“I was, and we can catch up later. We are going to be late, please follow me.” she said and turned down another hallway. 

To his surprise, he was led straight past Une’s private elevator to another elevator that he had never seen before. Dorothy stepped in behind him and as the doors closed, she put her hand on the biometric scanner. It glowed green and he felt the metal box begin to move down. Zechs wasn’t sure how far they dropped, but it was 30 seconds before the doors opened again, and Dorothy led him out.  They stepped out into an unfinished space; cement floors, exposed beams, stacks of equipment and supplies laid about, but there was not a soul in sight.

Their steps echoed as she led him about 100 yards before turning left down a corridor and stopped at an unmarked door. Again, Dorothy opened the door and held it for him, and he stepped forward. 

Zechs’ eyes widened slightly as he looked around the new room, but managed to keep the rest of his face blank. This room was modern, with sharp grey tile, two white leather and chrome lounge chairs in front of a large a glass top desk with chrome legs. There were no windows, but a large television screen was mounted on one wall and displayed a peaceful meadow scene. Zechs quickly realized, however, that it wasn’t a photo, but a video of some sort when the bright green grass rippled with an unseen wind and a daisy came loose and floated away on the breeze. 

Behind the desk sat a stern looking man with short coppery red hair streaked with silver and razor sharp cerulean eyes. This man stood and nodded to Dorothy who smiled and left. 

     “Hello Zechs, I’m Bruce Dubois.” He said, walking around the desk and extended a strong hand to Zechs, who took it. They both sat in the two leather chairs that faced the large desk, and Zechs could sense the other’s man’s eyes assessing him. He straightened in his seat.  Fine lines traced Dubois’ strong face and Zechs guessed he was probably in his early 50’ and he wore a fine grey Italian suit that reeked with power. 

     “First, I’d like to offer my condolences...I’m sorry to hear about the passing of Ms. Noin.”

     “Thank you.” Zechs murmured curtly, but didn’t break eye contact with the man.

     “Do you know why you are here?” Dubois asked, immediately changing gears and getting down to business. He lounged back in his seat and crossed his left ankle over his right knee. At this point, there was knock and Dorothy returned with two glasses of what appeared to be sparking water with a wedge of lime.

     “Honestly, no.” Zechs answered. He already beginning to dislike the man sitting next to him, but fought his natural instinct to be combative with other A-type personalities. He accepted the drink from Dorothy, and held it in his hands while Dubois accepted his drink, then Dorothy quietly excused herself with a small smile in Zechs’ direction. 

     “You look so skeptical,” he said with an amused smile over the rim of his glass. He lifted it slightly in Zechs’ direction then took a sip. Zechs obligingly took a sip from his and was surprised to find that it was a gin and tonic. And a damned good one too. 

     “Wouldn’t you, if you had no idea what you had just walked into?” he asked and Bruce shrugged. 

     “I suppose, but I’ve never gone into anything blindly,” he commented and Zechs wasn’t sure if it was meant as an insult or just part of the man’s cocky demeanor. Zechs took another sip of the drink to keep himself from saying anything. “Your sister thought that you may be a good candidate for the position I’m trying to fill.“ Bruce continued, “Tell me Zechs, have you ever heard of Nexus?”

Zechs scanned his brain for the names of all the organizations he knew of from the war. Nexus wasn’t one of them. 

     “No, I haven’t.” he answered and the smile on Bruce’s face grew. 

     “Good, that’s very good.” he said with a sip, “ Let me enlighten you.”

Nexus, he explained, was a European organization dedicated to the end of major criminal activity, specifically terrorism.  Interpol had been contracting them out for ‘special’ services, since A.C. 160. It had some similarities to the Preventers, however Nexus was smaller and didn’t bother with justice, they just took care of the “problem”. Interpol had been the oldest and most powerful organization on Earth, and it had been 349 years old when it finally changed hands and became the Preventers in AC. 196. The Preventers, who still had to follow a lot of bureaucratic red tape, saw the advantage of Nexus and signed the contract too. The Preventers were a highly classified organization, but everyone knew of it because of its work in the Eve Wars and the media coverage. As far as the world knew, however,  there was no public record of an organization by the name of Nexus.  Outside of Nexus agents and Dubois, only Director Une, Vice Foreign Minister Darlian and few select Preventers agents knew of its existence. 

And Nexus was looking for a new agent. 

Still sitting up straight, Zechs digested the information he was just given, and didn’t hear the question that he was asked. “I’m sorry, what was that sir?” he asked. 

     “I asked you if you had a problem breaking Earth Sphere Unified National Law?”   

     “I fought hard for peace, so to keep it? I’d do just about anything.” Zechs answered honestly, never breaking eye contact. Dubois didn’t smile or nod before asking his next question. 

     “You’re very young Zechs, so tell me why I should hire you?” Dubois asked, picking up a silver pen a twirling it expertly between his long manicured fingers.  

     “I have quite extensive training and battle histor-,” Zechs started and bit back an irritated scowl as Dubois interrupted him. 

     “I know who you are and what you were, Zechs. The Eve Wars ended only last year, so you can save me from hearing your battle résumé. To me, you are still a child. So tell me right now why I should trust a  _ child  _ with this position.” Still sitting with his legs crossed, Dubois stared at Zechs with a smug smile, waiting for a response. 

After weeks of sympathy and pity from everyone Zechs spoke with, Bruce’s patronizing words reminded him that he really despised being spoken to that way. A fire lit in his belly and Zechs waited a moment, before looking up again. 

     “I’ll be honest with you… Bruce,” he said, confidence bubbling as he felt the broken hearted man step to the side and the commander took his place.  “I came here, not actually knowing what it was, where I was going or even who I was going to meet. I came because my sister said it would be interesting and she was right. Nexus sounds very interesting and I would enjoy the challenge. However, I’m not going to sit here and list my great qualities to you like a lovesick boy, hoping for a date. If you know who I am, then you know how qualified I am for any job of a classified nature…sir. I would be a great asset to your team and I’ve been doing this for a long time. I may be young, but I have been a soldier more than half of my life. I take commands and I lead effectively, I however, do not take condescension well.” Zechs met Dubois eyes, daring and self-assured. Adrenaline surged just from his little speech, and he felt better than he had in weeks. 

     “So I can see,” Dubois answered, quietly studying the individual in front of him. The man that walked through the door was different from the one sitting in front of him at that moment.

     “And if you didn’t trust me sir, you wouldn’t have even held this interview.” Zechs added, then felt a strange twang at the thought that he may have stepped too far. 

Zechs felt the blue gaze scrutinize him for minute, and to his surprise, Bruce’s lips began to curve upward. 

     “I like you, Zechs,” He said, “I think that you’d fit in really well here. Would you like the job?” he offered, and Zechs hesitated. 

     “Can I think about it?” he asked, getting up from his chair. Bruce stood up too and both men placed their empty glasses on the desk. 

     “I’m not sure what there is to think about, but sure,” Bruce replied. 

     “Well, I thought I had put the life of taking lives behind me,” Zechs said, looking at the meadow scene on the large, flat screen. “I just want to make sure that I’m ready to live that life again.” 

Bruce nodded lightly and reached into the inner breast pocket of his jacket and pulled out a black card. Zechs took the offered card and flipped it between his fingers. It was cut from simple, sturdy card stock and had three lines of white text on one side: an address in Antwerp and a phone number. 

     “Call when you’re ready,” Bruce said, reaching out a hand, “Just don’t take too long,” Zechs took his hand and shook it firmly. 

     “I’ll be in touch,” he replied, then turned and headed to the door. 

Once outside, Zechs looked down at the business card and already knew from the feeling in his gut that he was going to take the job. 

Inside, Bruce smiled to himself once the door clicked shut. He walked around his desk and sat down, He opened his sleek, silver laptop, hit the button marked with a video camera, and selected a name on the contact list. 

The screen beeped happily for a few seconds before the call was picked up. 

     “Well?”

     “I think that he is going to take it.” Bruce answered, and Relena smirked at him. 

     “If I know my brother, at all, he won’t be able to say no.”

     “I hope that you’re right. I could use his skills.”

     “And he could use the distraction.” Relena replied, then added,  “Thank you, Bruce.”

     “No,” Bruce said, tipping his head in her direction, “Thank you, Minister.”

Relena sent him one last small smile, then disconnected the call. 


End file.
